Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Pot Roast and Potato Beetles

Should I make a joke about bringing seitan into the Catholic school? Well, I think I'll call it wheat gluten and leave it at that...Leftover wheat gluten pot roast with carrot gravy, roasted "potato beetles" (peel & cut new potatoes in half and make little slices along the top, then parboil for 5 minutes, brush with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and roast at 400 for about 35 minutes), green beans, mixed fruit cup, and a chocolate mint Newman-O. Verdict: All my son's favorites. An easy 5 stars.

Jennifer, I received my laptop lunchbox today -- and I gave you a big shout out to Amy for sending me to her. Gave her your rad site too . . .anyway, is Baby Schmoo satisfied with the amount of food you're giving him? I think the lunchboxes were smaller than I excepted. Or maybe I'm trying to gorge my little 1st grader.

I was surprised when I got my laptop lunchbox, too -- it was smaller than I expected.

Their handbook said that kids get overwhelmed if you pack them too much food and then tend not to eat. I don't know, I still wish it were a teeny bit bigger (after I took this picture I couldn't shut the top all the way with the fruitcup inside). But when you pack it up it really holds quite a bit. Little shmoo is staying well-fed! :-)

Well, great, my husband's right then. Love admitting that. He said I do pack my Lil' Madness too much. I was following my made-up philosophy that if she has a lot of variety then she is sure to eat something good . . .I also have a 10 year old athlete that could eat up 4 of these lunchboxes so, hard to tell sometimes. Thanks again for a terrific site and the advise.

Don't worry about the size of the lunchboxes. We've all gotten so used to enormous serving sizes that we don't know what a serving size really is. Did you know that an actual serving of banana is HALF a banana? That's fifteen grams of carbohydrates, which is one third of the amount you need in a complete meal. The container sizes may look small, but they probably actually hold the right serving size amounts of various foods. I've found when I eat small portions of several different things I fill up a lot faster than if I have a huge chunk of one thing. BTW...a serving of pasta or rice is only half a cup. ( a third of a cup if you're diabetic.) It doesn't look like a lot when you're measuring, but it does the job!

Hi, Meghan! Shelly is right, don't worry about the size of the lunchbox. I have been "packing" myself a lunch identical to Little shmoo's every day, and I can attest that it is enough food. I am surprised sometimes at how full I am! And I could cram a whole lot more into those containers if I wanted to (they were about half full today).

And hi, Millenium Hippies! The purple container has a lid that I can use when I pack liquidy stuff. Other than that, the little containers all fit snugly into the bigger container, and when I close it the bigger container acts as a giant lid. Also, it all goes into an insulated carrying case with space for an ice pack. Hope that helps!

Wow, what a great blog! You have totally inspired me to make my kids' lunches cooler. At 12 and 14, they're usually pretty picky about what they'll, and don't want to bring anything that looks too wierd (that someone might comment amount).

Ok, I just packed my first lunches for my 6 year old and my 10 year old, and you're right. They surprisingly hold more than you think. The main container with the lid held half a can of black bean chili! My kids are stoked to try this tomorrow.